Plaque

Cleopatra's needle - war damage

Cleopatra's needle Cleopatra's needle - war damage
Inscription

The scars that disfigure the pedestal of the obelisk, the bases of the sphinxes, and the right hand sphinx, were caused by fragments of a bomb dropped in the roadway close to this spot, in the first raid on London by German aeroplanes a few minutes before midnight on Tuesday 4th September 1917.

Londonist have a eye-witness account of this event.

Site: Cleopatra's needle (3 memorials)

WC2, Victoria Embankment

A misnomer since there is no connection with Cleopatra at all. In 1500 BC Pharaoh Thothmes erected two red granite obelisks at Heliopolis. The Romans took them to Alexandria in 12 BC where an earthquake brought them down. In 1819, following Nelson's victory at the Battle of the Nile, Britain was presented with this (near-buried) obelisk by the Viceroy of Egypt. It was not until 1877 that funds had been raised for shipment to London, which involved building a pontoon barge around the stone.

The 'Cleopatra' was not a lucky ship; it was holed and sunk during the launch. Salvaged, it was then almost lost in the Bay of Biscay in a storm when the barge broke loose from the towing steamer, the 'Olga'. 6 members of the Olga crew died as they tried to board the Cleopatra to bring it under control. But eventually it reached London and the obelisk was erected on a plinth containing a time capsule from that era. Its mate was given to the States and erected in Central Park, New York in 1881. The Cleopatra's needle in Place de la Concorde, Paris is also one of a pair but its mate is still in situ in Luxor.

2020: Reviewing a book on archaeology Tom Holland wrote "The shipping of obelisks to Paris, London and New York provided a brutally castratory metaphor for the way in which scholars from distant lands took ownership of the study of Egypt's past."

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Cleopatra's needle - war damage

Subjects commemorated i

World War 1

We'd always assumed that this war was known as the Great War until WW2 came a...

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This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Cleopatra's needle - war damage

Also at this site i

Cleopatra's needle

Cleopatra's needle

Pink granite, 68.5 feet high, 186 tons. Vulliamy created, and Youngs cast, th...

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Cleopatra's needle - crew members lost

Cleopatra's needle - crew members lost

{A list of 6 names, oddly not in alphabetical sequence - see Subjects commemo...

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Nearby Memorials

Sir William Reid Dick

Sir William Reid Dick

NW8, Clifton Hill, 95a Clifton Hill Studios

Sir William Reid Dick, 1878 - 1961, sculptor, worked here in Studio 3, 1910 - 1914. English Heritage

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
East London Toy Factory

East London Toy Factory

E3, Norman Grove, 45

45 Norman Grove. E. Sylvia Pankhurst set up the East London Toy Factory and babies nursery in this house and the building in the rear ga...

3 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
George Bentham

George Bentham

SW1, Wilton Place, 25

George Bentham, 1800 - 1884, botanist, lived here, 1864 - 1884. Greater London Council 

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Rowland Hill - WC1 (Marchmont Association)

Rowland Hill - WC1 (Marchmont Association)

WC1, Cartwright Gardens, Commonwealth Hall

Installed by 19 September 2016, with little ceremony.

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Bermondsey Abbey - Bermondsey Square

Bermondsey Abbey - Bermondsey Square

SE1, 3 Bermondsey Square

Photos from the other side of the street were made impossible by the bright sunshine. The Abbey plaque is trying to hide behind one of th...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator